


A Collapse (in judgement)

by Handsome_Shark



Series: Illogical Husbands [2]
Category: Broadchurch, Good Omens Extended Universe, Masters of Sex
Genre: Alec Hardy Whump, Exhaustion, Fainting, Heart Conditions, Hiding Medical Issues, Hurt/Comfort, I’m not a doctor, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Set in Modern Times, Sickfic, Whump, questionable medicine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:22:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22996879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Handsome_Shark/pseuds/Handsome_Shark
Summary: Alec has been working himself to the bone, not taking care of himself at all. He finally gets to take a little vacation to visit his boyfriend in London, but the stress and exhaustion plus to much wine catch up to him at the worst time.
Relationships: Alec Hardy/William Masters
Series: Illogical Husbands [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1754941
Comments: 5
Kudos: 103





	A Collapse (in judgement)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> When I started reading for these two, I said to myself “I definitely won’t write anything stories for these guys.” That lasted for maybe a day, and now here we are. 
> 
> I have seen only a few episodes of masters of sex, so if Bill is totally off, that’s why, but I love the relationship these two have in this little fandom so much.
> 
> For this, we have Alec still living in broadchurch and Bill is living and working in London.
> 
> I’m also trying to figure out how I wanna refer to Alec in these fics. Hardy feels more accurate, but Alec flows better.

Hardy is dead on his feet when his taxi finally pulls up to Bill’s flat. Making the long trek from Broadchurch to London, after working nonstop for weeks, was to put it lightly, exhausting. He feels a bit woozy, after dozing on and off in the taxi from the train station, but he manages to wrestle his bag from the back on his own. He’s sure he just needs some sleep, and he’ll feel better. 

Hardy drags himself up the stairs, leaning heavily on the door as he rings the bell. He pulls himself up when he hears Bill on the other side of the door, his excitement to finally see him after a month and a half nearly overriding his exhaustion. 

Bill’s smile is dazzling when he opens the door, “Alec.” 

“Hello, Masters.” Hardy drops his bag, leaning into Bill’s arms as they wrap around him, pressing a kiss to his lips. 

“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Bill.”

“And how many times do I have to tell you I don’t like first names.” Hardy sags a bit, resting his head on Bill’s shoulder and letting Bill hold most of his weight. “I missed you.”

“Missed you too” Bill says, squeezing Hardy tightly before pulling away to get a better look at him. “Everything ok?”

“Just tired, long trip you know.“ Hardy says. “Let's go inside, bit cold out here.”

“Course, sorry.” Bill says, a smile in his voice. He takes Hardy’s bag for him, ushering him inside with a hand on the small of his back. “It’s a little late, but if you’re hungry I can heat something up.”

“No, no,” Hardy says, toes off his shoes and hanging up his jacket. “I’m too tired to eat right now.” 

“We can have an early night then, go up to bed.”

“Don’t even think about it.” Hardy says, voice lowering an octave, crowding Bill into the wall, kissing him soundly. “I’m not knocking out as soon as I get here.”

“Ok ok,” Bill says breathlessly, free hand coming to rest on Hardy’s hip. “Why don’t you go sit down, I’ll get us something to drink.”  
———————

Hardy wanders to the living room and all but collapses on the couch, his body screaming out in joy at finally being somewhat horizontal. The TV is playing some old sitcom, the volume set low. 

“Care for some wine?” Bill asks, holding a bottle of red and some glasses.

Hardy cracks one weary eye open. “Maybe one.”

One glass turns into three glasses as they talk the evening away. Hardy is feeling loose and relaxed, happily ranting about the last month, and the case that had kept him busy, kept him from seeing Bill. Bill tells Hardy all about his current project, and how a few of the locals have already started to protest his presence in London.

They’re sitting in comfortable silence, watching Bill while he watched the television. He’s hit with a wave of desire, the same he felt when he’d arrived earlier. He’s exhausted sure, but he’s waited for weeks to be with this man again and he doesn’t wanna wait any longer. 

He leans over, his hand cupping Bill’s cheek, guiding him towards him until he can catch Bill’s lips with his own, catching Bill’s pleased little gasp as he moves his lips. He swipes his tongue along the seam of Bill’s lips, licking into his mouth and throwing a leg over Bill’s legs, climbing into his lap. 

Bill’s hand ruck up Hardy’s shirt, slipping underneath to run over the smooth planes of his back. Little electric currents spark out from every point of contact they’re sharing, making Hardy’s skin tingle. 

When Bill takes Hardy’s bottom lip between his teeth, biting and then sucking, he moans into Bill’s mouth, unconsciously grinding down in Bill’s lap. 

“Why don’t we take this upstairs?” Bill suggests against Hardy’s mouth, his voice lower than it had been moments ago, hand gripping and dragging Hardy’s hips down harder. 

“Yes, yes, good idea.” Hardy pants, gently lifting Bill’s hands from his hips. He has to force himself out of Bill’s lap. “Gonna use the loo first.”

“I’ll be waiting.” Bill says, watching Hardy leave, eager to pick this back up in bed. He stops to put the wine glasses in the sink before heading upstairs to the bedroom. He’s halfway up the stairs when he hears a loud thud. “Alec? What was that?”

“Hardy?” He tries again, creeping back down the stairs. His stomach drops when he sees Hardy laying on his side, collapsed in his hallway.

Bill is in motion before his brain even has a chance to catch up with him, moving on autopilot. Kneeling next to Hardy, whose breathing is rapid and shallow. His fingers press to the lanky man's neck, relieved to feel a pulse. But that relief is short lived because the pulse under his fingers is racing and weak. 

Hardy inhaling a gasping breath is what tips Bill’s brain back into action. 

Bill pulls out his cell phone, and is dialing emergency services when Hardy weakly grabs his wrist. 

“No.” Hardy says, panting for a completely different reason that he had been ten minutes ago. “No hospital.” 

“Y-you could be having a heart attack right now!” Bill exclaims, absolutely not understanding why this man would not want to be taken to a hospital. “Your heart is barely beating it’s going so fast.”

“M’not.” Hardy says though another sudden gasping breath, curling further into a fetal position, the pain in his chest spiking. “I’ve got… meds in my bag, need those.”

Bill races to the front door, where Hardy’s bag sits abandoned, and starts to tear through the compartments and pockets, until he finds a blister pack of medication he recognizes. 

“You have a heart condition?!” Bill yells, his emotions tipping between anger and panic like a seesaw. He skids on his knees back next to Hardy half spilling the glass of water he’d frantically filled in the kitchen before popping out two pills from the pack. 

Hardy can only nod in response, breathing heavily and controlled. 

“Right, come on, lean on me.” Bill says, cradling Hardy’s head and his shoulders in his lap. He helps him lift his head enough to swallow down the pills with a drink of water. 

“Thank you.” Hardy says quietly, slumping back against Bill. 

“You're still going to hospital.” Bill says, his tone suggesting that there is no room for negotiation. “Even if I have to drive you there myself.”

“Masters.” Hardy says, steeling himself and trying to sound more steady than he feels. “This happens sometimes. I’ll be fine, promise.”

“Oh well, that’s comforting to know, that you just collapse sometimes.” Bill is unable to keep the biting sarcasm out of his voice. 

“Please. Don’t make me spend my time with you in that place, Bill, please.” Hardy begs, going slack now that the chest pain is starting to subside, a sign that his meds are kicking in. “Please.”

“Alec, I’m a doctor, I can’t just...” Bill starts to say. 

“You can.” Hardy says. “I’ll explain... in a bit, but I will be fine.”

“Ok, ok, we’ll do it your way, but if I think you’re taking a turn,” Bill says with a sigh. “We are going immediately, no argument. 

“Deal” Hardy says, as happily as he can at the moment. “Help me off the floor?”

Bill gets Hardy off the floor, noting how easily he is to lift, given that he was at least three inches taller than him.

He and Hardy make their way upstairs and he lays him down in bed, he’s out of breath again just from the short trip up the stairs. 

Once he’s deposited Hardy safely in bed, he helps him strip down to his boxers and gets him under the covers. It’s not exactly how he had imagined he’d be undressing his lover tonight. 

“Don’t move,” Bill says. “I’ll be right back.”

Hardy just rolls his eyes, as if he were going to go anywhere. 

When Bill comes back, just moments later, he’s holding up his stethoscope. 

Hardy looks at him, through half lidded eyes, and has just enough energy to cock one eyebrow up. 

“Humor me?” Bill asks, bordering on pleading. 

Hardy rolls his eyes, again, and nods his assent. 

Bill smiles gratefully, climbing into the bed. Fitting the stethoscope into his ears, he presses the end to Hardy’s chest and listens, moving it around every few seconds. To be completely honest, he’s not sure what he’s listening for. From what he remembers on heart conditions, you can’t hear most with a standard stethoscope. But Hardy’s heart sounds ok, maybe beating a tick too fast still, but much steadier than it had been just 15 minutes ago, when it had been fluttering and weak under his fingertips. 

“Sound good?” Hardy asks with a yawn. 

“Sounds better, but I’m not exactly an expert.” Bills states, getting comfortable in the bed next to Hardy, pressing a kiss to his forehead. ”Get some sleep, in the morning you’re going to explain.”

“I will,” Hardy mumbles in agreement, already half asleep. “Promise.”

Bill doesn’t find sleep that night, but not for lack of trying. He’s simply much too worried about Hardy to get to sleep. Instead, he takes a trip to his office to grab a few books, taking them back to bed to spend the night refreshing his memory on arrhythmias and other heart conditions, reaching out to check Hardy’s pulse throughout the night, just to be sure his heart is still beating. 

———————

When Hardy wakes the next morning, he wakes slowly. The first thing he’s aware of is that he’s in a bed way more comfortable than his own. The next thing is that he’s warm, warmer than he ever is sleeping on his own. Snuggling deeper under the heavy comforter, he stretches, groaning when his joints pop.

When he finally opens his eyes, he finds Bill laying on his side, propped up on an elbow, watching him with a fond smile. 

“Mornin’” Hardy says, voice rough. “Been awake long?”

“Only all night.” Bill says, placing a kiss on Hardy’s lips, as if that wasn’t a wild piece of information to drop first thing in the morning. “How are you feeling?”

“Honestly?” Hardy says, taking stock of himself properly. “I’m still a little tired, and kinda sore. But I feel better than I have in weeks.”

“Good, good. I’ve been worried.” Bill says, the relief palpable in his voice. “So, how long have you had the Arrhythmia?”

Hardy’s eyes widen in surprise. 

“What? might not be a cardiologist but I am still a doctor.” Bill states, reaching behind to grab the little packet of pills he’d brought up stairs last night. “I do know what these treat.”

“It’s been almost a year,” Hardy explains. “I haven’t told you much about it yet, but there was a case, Sandbrook, it was… not a good time for me, personally, then the divorce.” Hardy unconsciously lays his hand over his heart. “The stress was all too much, and well, it affected me physically.” 

“And it didn’t resolve afterwards?” Bill asks. 

“It’s permanent, unfortunately.” Hardy says, shaking his head. “I’ll need a pacemaker, eventually.” He leaves out that he should have already gotten that particular procedure already, that his doctors aren’t even sure if he’ll survive. He can’t lay that on Bill, not yet. 

“Do you get attacks like this often?”

Hardy sighs at the question, he doesn’t really want to tell Bill the gritty details of his condition. Hadn’t wanted to tell him about it at all, not yet anyway. 

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Bill says. “I’m still not convinced I shouldn’t take you in to get checked out.”

“Bill, this... this has happened before, alright. They’d just keep me for observation.” Hardy pleads. “I promise I’m feeling fine now. Bit tired but that’s normal.”

Bill lays down on his back and goes silent for a while, lost in thought. 

“Would you have told me?“ Bill eventually asks flatly. “Had you not collapsed in my hallway?”

“When you needed to know.” Hardy says defensively. 

“And you didn’t think I needed to know there was a possibility you could collapse without warning?” Bill says, his hackles raising in response to Hardy’sdefensiveness, at his neglect of his own well being. 

“My health is no one's business but my own.”

“Not if we’re going to be in a relationship, Hardy!” Bill yells, temper finally getting the best of him. 

Hardy softens, visibility deflating even though he’s still laying down. He’s still getting used to the idea of people caring about him. 

“M’sorry.” Hardy says, reaching to take Bills hand in his own. “It wasn’t my intent to… scare you. It's just that everyone who finds out treats me differently. Fragile. I didn’t want that from you.”

Bill scoots closer, pulls Hardy into his arms, the man easily fitting against his side. “Alec, please don’t misconstrue this as pity, it’s not.”

“M’ managing fine.” Hardy says, the sound muffled against Bill’s chest. “Don’t need coddling.”

“Let me worry about you,” Bills soothes, one hand running up and down Hardy’s back. Bill thinks back, to a conversation he’d had with Ellie, the last time he’d visited broadchurch. She had told him to watch out for Hardy, make sure he took care of himself. “I care about what’s happening to you.”

“I know,” Hardy says. “M’sorry.”

“Can we talk a little more about your condition?” Bill asks, after laying cuddled together for a while.

Hardy rolls back enough to be able to look at Bill, nodding with a sigh. “Might as well.”

“You need to start taking better care of yourself.” Bill says.

“I do.” Hardy says, pouting a little. “I never miss my meds, ever.”

“I mean, physically, taking care of your body.” Bill says. “Like not drinking alcohol when you have a heart condition. I’m certain that’s what caused this attack.”

“I know, I know, you’re right.” Hardy says, feeling just a little embarrassed. This exact thing had happened before and he really should have known better. “One glass is my limit but we were having a good time, and I was happy, really happy for the first time in weeks, so I had more.” 

“You really shouldn’t have a limit at all.” Bill says. “But I know you have been working very hard, been very stressed. When was the last time you really slept? Had an actual meal?”

Hardy has the decency to look a little sheepish at that question. 

“A little while.” Hardy sighs. He knows that stress is a real problem for him. But he’s not sure how to reduce the stress of his job, and he’s not exactly trying to find a new career. “I supposed I could try to eat more than once a day.”

“It would help,” Bill says. “Probably start drinking more fluids, don’t think I haven’t noticed you’re dehydrated.”

“Does coffee count?”

After a long suffering sigh, Bill responds “No, I’m afraid it doesn’t. In fact caffeine tends to make heart conditions act up.”

“Ah well,” Hardy says, laughing a little, because it was a little funny. “Told my doctor I wouldn’t give it up, and I won’t be doin’ it for you either.”

“I didn’t think you would, my stubborn detective.” Bill laughs, stopping to place a soft kiss on Hardy’s lips. 

“I will make an attempt to take better care of myself.” Hardy says, looking Bill in the eye. “Promise.”

“Good, because I plan on spoiling you this week, and I don’t need you undoing all my hard work.” Bill says, hugging Hardy tightly to his chest. 

“In that case.” Hardy says, making himself comfortable and tangling their legs together. ”First thing I wanna do is take a nap.”

And Bill is all too happy to oblige.


End file.
